Side wall for railway hopper cars



Dec. 17, 1946. I G. G. GILPIN I SIDE WALL FOR RAILWAY HOPPER CARS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 1'7, 1944 INVENTOR.

OcZrZ/ZG (7450175,

Dec. 17, 1946. GlLPlN SIDE WALL FOR RAILWAY HOPPER CARS Filed Feb. 17; 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q Jo INVENTOR. GarZ/z 61 6440172; BY f Patented Dec. 17, 1946 UNITED STATE S OFF I'C V r 2,412,807: 7 V sron WALL. For. RAILWAYHOPPER cAR's GarthG. Gilpin; Chicago, IllS -assignor to. Stand ard' Railway Equipment Manufacturingz Gomipany, Chicago, 111., .a corporationqofDelaware Application February 17, 1944, ScrialTNo. 522,806

' Claims. (Cl. 105-409.)

This-invention relates toopen top railway cars, suchas hopper and gondola cars, and more specifi'cally to an improved form of vertical wall therefor.

The vertical walls of such cars form girders for carryi'ngthe load, between the opposite body holsters, and also a retaining wall for the lading.

It is generally conceded that a hollow, seamless,- tubular metallic section is about the strongest metallic shape under compressive and beam stress, audit is anobject of the present invention to-form the vertical posts of my car wall of such metallic section.

Another object of the'invention is to form the vertical wall sheets of thecar' in a manner to provide'thegreatest carrying capacity for thecar, and which. plates are adaptable for cooperative usewith said tubular posts.

A' further object of the invention is to adapt the invention forthe repair of walls of a hopper or gondola-car, utilizing the side sillof such cars to form part ofthe bottom chord of the car wall.

A still further object of the invention is to form the edges of the side plates with flanges which surround the posts, thereby protecting same against the abrasive action of certain types of lading during loading and unloadin and'the action of acids in'other types of-lading when wet.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings formingpart of' the invention and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of part of a hopper carside embodyingmy invention.

Fig. 23is a longitudinal cross sectional view on the line 2- of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional. view on the line,33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper of Fig. 3..

Fig. 5 is an enlargedview of the lower portion of Fig. 3'.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the car wall through one of the posts thereof, on the line 6-6'of Fig. 5.

Fig; 7 is a perspective sectional View on the line 11 of Fig. 1. in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of thebolster post.

As shown. inthe drawings,.my improved wall comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced vertical. tubular posts I, being preferably rectangular in cross section. These posts are slotted on opposite sides, as at 2, from the bottoms thereportion 2? of" upwardly a distance sufficient to straddle the vertical leg 3 of the sidesill ofthec'ar, and'to whichsaid posts are welded on both sides; as indicated at i Fig: 5. ihe side-sill isof angle iron structure, havingthe horizontally disposed leg 5; which side sill, of course, extends from bolster to bolster 'ofthe car and is attached to the underframe' thereofas is common practice and formsthe'bott'om chord member of the-car wall The bottom edge of said-post iswelded tothehorizontal leg of the sidesill, as shown inFigi 5. The several postsextend upwardy the desired height and arenotched out at their upper outercorners; asat 6, to receive the downwardy extending outer bulblof the upper-chordmember', whichis-provided with whorizontally disposed web 8- and a vertically disposedarm lli The'bulb T is=welded tothe" edges of thenotch 6; as indicated in- Fig. 4; andthe arm'aisjsimilarly attached to the upper end oil the inner-face'oi the several posts; Thus a strong-upper chord member is provided.

The side wall). sheets H! are somewhat similar to those described and claimed'in my earlier Pat'- entNo. 2,'030;74'8,.of February 11, 1936, wherein said sheets span the space betweentheposts and the top and: bottom. chord members and are securedthereto' to form the web ofthe girder and the, load retaining means of the car. The posts form stiffenersfor the webof the girder and act as vertical beams to: transmit horizontal loads thereon. to the frame members. The side wall sheets It" are formed. from fiat metallic plate and are trimmed to a rectangular blank. which. in length is sufficient' to span, the space between the posts, provide. alfiange the width of the posts; and a refiange of approximately one-half the thickness of the post,.all as shown mostclearly inFigs. 2 and 6, The flanges of thesheets ID are shown'at [Landthe refianges at l2'; the flanges .II abutting andbeingsecuredto the sides 13" of' the p,osts, and' thereflanges l2 overlapping and being. secured to. the inner edges I4 of said posts. See Fig. 6. Any vertical space between the, meeting edge of the reflanges may be filled with .welding, material so. that all surfaces of. the posts. which are. subjectto wear, abrasion or corrosion. from the lading. isprotected therefrom. by thewall sheets The plates ate slit from the top and bottomthereof on a. vertical line coincident with the right-angular. bend: in the plate which forms the flanges H, and the intermediate portion I5 at theupper end of the plate is bent diagonally inwardly as shownin Figs. 3 and. 4, to the plane of'the vertical arm 9 of the top chord, where the plate is bent upwardly forming a vertical flange l6 which is riveted as at H, or otherwise secured to said arm 9. The diagonal edges of the intermediate portion l may be welded to the flanges II, as indicated at I8. It is obvious that with this construction there will occur a relatively small opening l9 between the flange II and edge of the intermediate portion It at the upper inner corner thereof, and which may be filled with welding material to make a tight car wall for granular lading. It will be noted from Figs. 3 and 4 that the upper edges of the flanges l l terminate in a plane with the lower edge of the depending arm 9 of the top chord;

The intermediate portion of the plates between the slits extending upwardly from the bottom of the plates is similarly bent inwardly diagonally, as shown at 29, Figs. 3 and 5, to the plane of the outer surface of the vertical leg 3 of the bottom sill or chord member, at which plane the plate is bent downwardly parallel to and abutting said leg 3 to which it is riveted, as at 2|, or otherwise secured thereto.

The outer surfaces of the main portion of the wall sheets, between the diagonal portions I5 and thereof, is disposed in the same vertical plane as the outer edges of the several posts, thereby presenting a smooth outer surface to the car wall, yetinteriorly of the car the wall has the appearance of a paneled wall, which panels increase the carrying capacity of the car.

Fig. '7 shows a fragmental perspective view of the outside of the car wall illustrating the bolster post of the car, which occurs near the end of the car where the bottom thereof tapers upwardly, as at 26, as is common in hopper cars. The side sill 3-5 of bolster post, as indicated in Fig, l, and as shown in Fig. 8, the outside of the lower end of the post is cut away, on a plane with the inside of the upstanding leg 3 of the side sill, leaving a channel-shaped section, the edges of the flanges of which channel section are welded to the leg 3 of the sid sill. That portion of the post which extends below the inclined floor of the car is thus cut-away, and from a point approximately midway between the ends of the post 25, a channel 21 is formed therein, which extends downwardly to the cut-away portion, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. This channel 21 is for the purpose of admitting the inwardly disposed flanges 28 of a pair of reinforcing angle bars 29, which angle bars are formed to fit the contour of the bolster postZS, all as shown in Fig. '7. The other flanges of the angle bars overlap the outer surface of the post and are secured thereto and below the floor of the car said flanges are widened, as indicated at 30. A relatively large channel 3| is provided which forms a continuation of the side sill and extends from the bolster of the car to the end post 32 thereof. The upper flange of said channel at the inner end thereof, is flattened to the plane of the web thereof, as indicated at 33, and secured to the flanges and flange 3 of the side sill.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim: 7

the car terminates at the.

1. A wall for a railway car comprising a bottom chord having an upstanding leg, spaced hol- 4 low non-circular posts having the lower ends thereof slotted and straddling said leg and secured thereto On both sides thereof, and a wall sheet having the major portion thereof substantially in the plane of the outside of said post, the lower margin of said wall sheet bent inwardly and secured to said leg, said wall sheet extending between and secured to said posts.

2. A wall for a railway car comprising a girder comprising a top chord having a vertical arm and a horizontal arm extending outwardly therefrom, a bottom chord having a vertical leg and a horizontal leg extending inwardly therefrom, said vertical arm and vertical leg being in spaced vertical planes, spaced substantially rectangular tubular posts with the upper ends thereof overlapping and secured to said vertical arm, the lower ends of said posts beingslotted and straddling said vertical leg and secured to both sides thereof, and wall sheets with the major portions thereof substantially in the plane of the outside of said posts and the upper and lower margins thereof bent inwardly and secured to the top chord and bottom chord, respectively, the side marginsof said sheets having vertical flanges which overlap the sides of adjacent posts, said vertical flanges having reflanges which overlap the inner sides of said posts.

3. A wall for a railway car comprising a girder comprising a top chord having a vertical arm and a horizontal arm extending outwardly therefrom, a bottom chord having a vertical leg and a horizontal leg extending inwardly therefrom, said vertical arm and vertical leg being in spaced vertical planes, spaced substantially rectangular tubular posts with the upper ends thereof overlapping and secured to said vertical arm and also secured to said horizontal arm, the lower ends of said posts being slotted and straddling said vertical leg and secured to both sides thereof and also secured to said horizontal leg, and wall sheets with the major portions thereof substantially in the plane of the outside of said posts and the upper and lower margins thereof bent inwardly and secured to the top chord and bottom chord, respectively, the side margins of said sheets having vertical flanges which overlap the sides of adjacent posts, said vertical flanges having reflanges which overlap the inner sides of said posts.

4. A wall for a railway car comprising a bottom chord having an upstanding leg, spaced tubular posts having the lower ends thereof slotted and straddling said leg and secured thereto on both sides thereof, and a wall sheet having the major portion thereof substantially in the plane of the outside of said posts, the lower margin of said Wall sheet bent inwardly and secured to said leg, said wall sheet extending between and se-' cured to said posts.

5. A wall for a railway car comprising a bottom chord having an upstanding leg, a top chord having a depending arm, spaced tubular posts with the lower ends thereof slotted and straddling said leg and secured thereto on both sides thereof, and a wall sheet having the major portion thereof substantially in the plane of the outside of said posts, the lower margin of said wall sheet bent inwardly and secured tosaid leg and the upper margin of said wall sheet bent inwardly and secured tosaid arm, said wallsheet extending between and secured to said posts.

GARTH G. GI P'IN, 

